Tourist Visa

**ironalice** · 21-09-2011, 08:12 PM

Just have a few questions as my partner is unsure of the process:

She is from the US and we know that she can come here for 3 months under the visa wavier however we think its for the best she applies for the 9 months at the beginning before she leaves here.

What basically are the only things that will stop her from getting 9 months approved right away?

She will have the $9,000 needed ($1,000 per month as required) no criminal record, never been here before will most likely say she is here to visit friends, see the country, and be staying with me.

secondly anyone know how long these types of applications take to be approved?

and the last question is how does the return flight work? as in do they check that once she arrives here? they cant check that while looking through your application can they? as she wont have a clue when to have the flight booked and when the application will be approved right?

just finally, once we get through this bit she will have 9 months in the country, and after about 3 or so months we will apply for a working visa as my partner for 12 months (as we can obviously only approve a relationship from the time she arrived here.

then after she is here 12 months we will apply for residency, and be getting married while she is on her first work visa.

I presume this is the right way to go?

to be sure and not mess this up we will get an immigration lawyer once she arrives here.

**Cliff** · 22-09-2011, 02:59 AM

If you are on the west cost call the NZ consulate in Los Angeles. If closer to Washington, DC call the consulate there. They can tell you the processing time and if that is what you should do. Because it is a tourist visa it should be pretty quick. No medicals or anything involved. She would be a tourist and they love tourists to nz.

**ironalice** · 22-09-2011, 04:56 PM

but basically when she gets approved for a 9 month tourist visa, there is nothing stopping her applying for a work visa under partnership once she is here and living with me for around 3 months or so right?

because thats what NZI ask for "must be living together at the time of application" and the only way to do that is to get here here as a tourist first then apply after we get enough "evidence" to suggest we have been in a relationship from the time she arrived.

makes sense .

**ironalice** · 22-09-2011, 06:00 PM

my final question is she will apply for up to 9 months visit visa from the USA, I have heard with the "high risk" countries they have to proove evidence of coming back home and not over staying other than just a return flight.

however since the USA isnt on that list, if she just gets a 9 month visit visa on her own and obviously doesnt mention its because she wants to stay with her partner (as they will then most likely ask for more evidence of her leaving) do they ask for any other evidence other than a return flight?????

**MotherBear** · 23-09-2011, 06:33 AM

Originally Posted by ironalice

and the last question is how does the return flight work? as in do they check that once she arrives here? they cant check that while looking through your application can they? as she wont have a clue when to have the flight booked and when the application will be approved right?

Usually, with a visit visa, if you haven't got a return flight they won't let you on the plane, as I understand it. If your partner is hoping that her work visa through partnership will come through before her visit visa expires, so that she can stay in NZ, one thing she could do regarding the onward/return flight is to book it from NZ to Australia which is the cheapest option and can either be used for a visit to Oz at some point or can be binned if it doesn't get used. Has she considered a Working Holiday Visa which would give her 12 months in NZ and she could do some casual work meantime if she wants while she is waiting for the work visa to come through. WHVs are often pretty quick to come through as are visit visas. I guess it depends on how busy the branch she is dealing with is at the time.

I would hope there shouldn't be a problem with entering NZ if she just tells them she's visiting friends and doing some travelling. A problem might only arise if she gave them any concerns about the possibility that she may overstay for some reason.

**ironalice** · 23-09-2011, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by MotherBear

Usually, with a visit visa, if you haven't got a return flight they won't let you on the plane, as I understand it. If your partner is hoping that her work visa through partnership will come through before her visit visa expires, so that she can stay in NZ, one thing she could do regarding the onward/return flight is to book it from NZ to Australia which is the cheapest option and can either be used for a visit to Oz at some point or can be binned if it doesn't get used. Has she considered a Working Holiday Visa which would give her 12 months in NZ and she could do some casual work meantime if she wants while she is waiting for the work visa to come through. WHVs are often pretty quick to come through as are visit visas. I guess it depends on how busy the branch she is dealing with is at the time.

I would hope there shouldn't be a problem with entering NZ if she just tells them she's visiting friends and doing some travelling. A problem might only arise if she gave them any concerns about the possibility that she may overstay for some reason.

did look at the working holiday but she wont be eligible as she is 41

To be eligible

You must:
be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old

So pretty much motherbear our only option is to get as much time as she can with a visit visa, once she arrives here collect as much evidence as we can that we are in a genuine relationship and be living together then apply for a temp work visa for 12 months under partnership?

theb after that our second option will be extending the work visa by another 12 months or applying for residency, or both really? to be sure she can work for another 12 months while here residency comes through .

we also plan to get married in queenstown (I live in Auckland) once her first work visa comes through.

its an exciting time, really want her here just want to do everything right once and not stuff this up :(

**MotherBear** · 06-10-2011, 04:42 AM

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but I had log in problems.

If you are applying under the Temporary work visa under partnership it lools like she can just apply for a work permit once she is living with you. Then, once you have lived together for the requisite 12 months, an application for residency under partnership can be made. Meanwhile, as you say, collecting bits and pieces from your time spent together will act as evidence of your ongoing relationship and will be requested by INZ during that first year to support the work permit. Another work permit can be applied for if the relationship is younger than 12 months or, it looks like a 2-year work permit might be granted if the relationship is more than 12 months old.

**ironalice** · 06-10-2011, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by MotherBear

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but I had log in problems.

If you are applying under the Temporary work visa under partnership it lools like she can just apply for a work permit once she is living with you. Then, once you have lived together for the requisite 12 months, an application for residency under partnership can be made. Meanwhile, as you say, collecting bits and pieces from your time spent together will act as evidence of your ongoing relationship and will be requested by INZ during that first year to support the work permit. Another work permit can be applied for if the relationship is younger than 12 months or, it looks like a 2-year work permit might be granted if the relationship is more than 12 months old.

Thanks for the reply, it seems I have a good understanding on what has to be done. Once she is here living with me we will look at the temp work permit under partnership, this giving us time to work to residency :)

I actually questioned INZ about what my partner should say her reason for visiting is, and they seemed pretty determined that she should say it's to visit her partner, I used to think this would create suspicion to INZ she may overstay, however this is how the reply went:

I can confirm that you are heading in the right direction with your approach. I would recommend that your partner declare that her reasons for visiting New Zealand is to visit her partner. Neglecting to declare this information may create issues later should you submit evidence during the time of her visit.

so basically if she stated it was to visit friends, see the country etc, they may see it as lying when we applied for a work visa under partnership and put together evidence as soon as she got here .

and finally I got this :

If your partner intends to come to New Zealand to settle and live with you in New Zealand, then she should not enter visa free as a visitor, but instead apply for a visitors visa with all the information regarding your relationship under the general visitor instructions as an exception. You will need to explain that you are not living together ( as I understand it from your email, currently you are not) The case officer will decide whether to waive the outward ticket requirement or not if the application is approved. Where as if you attempt to enter New Zealand visa free you must have a return ticket ( I would not recommend visa free as an option as I indicated earlier)
Here is a link to the visitors visa form:
Visitors

Then once she comes to New Zealand and you commence living together and gathering evidence of this , then she can apply for a work visa under partnership.

Didn't know they can waive the outward flight if you can convince the case officer at the time of applying for a tourist visa you want to settle in NZ with a partner and plan on applying for a work visa within that 9 months.

however what do you make of this comment ? "apply for a visitors visa with all the information regarding your relationship under the general visitor instructions as an exception"

what information would they be looking for if she is just applying for a visit visa and we have no evidence of a relationship?

**MotherBear** · 07-10-2011, 12:48 AM

It's certainly true that INZ don't look too kindly on people who provide less than truthful information but, like you, I've heard previously about doubt being cast on people who have been trying to get to NZ for a holiday with their partner because they might be reluctant to leave, which does happen. Perhaps INZ has softened their stance on this. After all, it's quite reasonable and understandable for one partner to want to visit the other.

When applying for the visit visa I guess they would be looking at any evidence you have that ties the two of you together for a period of time and shows what efforts you've made to stay in touch and keep your relationship alive e.g. emails, messages, letters, greetings cards, photos taken when you've been together at different times, any documents showing you have combined finances, phone bills showing calls made to each other etc. if you have any of it.

Regarding what INZ has said about waiving the return flight (which I must say I have never heard of before but they are continually reviewing and revising their rules and regulations), I would be sure to keep any correspondence from them in case you need to refer them to it later on. Then, of course, you have to rely on the Case Officer going along with this.

**ironalice** · 07-10-2011, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by MotherBear

It's certainly true that INZ don't look too kindly on people who provide less than truthful information but, like you, I've heard previously about doubt being cast on people who have been trying to get to NZ for a holiday with their partner because they might be reluctant to leave, which does happen. Perhaps INZ has softened their stance on this. After all, it's quite reasonable and understandable for one partner to want to visit the other.

When applying for the visit visa I guess they would be looking at any evidence you have that ties the two of you together for a period of time and shows what efforts you've made to stay in touch and keep your relationship alive e.g. emails, messages, letters, greetings cards, photos taken when you've been together at different times, any documents showing you have combined finances, phone bills showing calls made to each other etc. if you have any of it.

Regarding what INZ has said about waiving the return flight (which I must say I have never heard of before but they are continually reviewing and revising their rules and regulations), I would be sure to keep any correspondence from them in case you need to refer them to it later on. Then, of course, you have to rely on the Case Officer going along with this.

Hi
This is the final message I got back from INZ:

Regarding an exception to the Immigration instructions, what I mean is because your partner is not intending to enter New Zealand for the purposes of holidaying then the visa would not meet the requirements of the general visitors visa and because you are not living together it does not meet the partnership requirements , but the solution we have is to get your partner to apply for the general visitors visa as an exception to the instructions.

Additional to that if the case officer decides to grant your partner the visa then the case officer will need to make the decision whether to waive the outward travel requirement( return ticket)

Basically my concern is, what are the chances of getting a "general visitors visa as an exception" by doing it this way they suggested?

or would you think the prehaps "safer" way of doing it prehaps just coming here for 3 months as she is from the US she doesn't need a visa as you know, then applying for further visas while she is here?

or just apply for up to 9 months and say the reason for visiting is social, seeing friends etc?

Basically have you heard anything bad go wrong with someones other half not stating the reason for his/her holiday is to stay with there partner ?